jovian tapestry

The easternmost edge of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and
surrounding south tropical disturbance are captured in this image from NASA’s
Juno spacecraft. At left, wispy tendrils from the Red Spot give the atmosphere
a layered appearance as they partially obscure cloud features below.

Jupiter's appearance is a tapestry of vivid colors and
swirling atmospheric vortices. Many aspects of the planet’s atmosphere are
still a mystery. For example, the origin of individual storms or churning cloud
features is unknown. By studying Jupiter’s weather up close for the first time,
Juno is helping researchers better understand how atmospheres work in general –
including our own. What we learn about Jupiter’s atmosphere will also help scientists
understand how gas-giant planets work in general, including those now being
discovered beyond our solar system.

This color-enhanced image was taken at 3:01 a.m. PDT on April
1, 2018 (6:01 a.m. EDT), as the spacecraft performed its 12th close flyby of
Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 7,900 miles (12,750 kilometers) from the
planet's cloud tops, above a southern latitude of approximately 26 degrees.

Citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill created this image using
data from the spacecraft’s JunoCam imager.